WBS.211
FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
DISCIPLESHIP 101
Part 8 – Repentance - II
Isaiah 53:6 All
we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;
and IAUE hath laid on him (Messiah) the iniquity of us all.
Repentance is embracing the clemency provided for us by
the death of Messiah, and receiving the power provided by the resurrection
of Messiah to turn to IAUE and be restored to the purpose for which we were
created: obedience to the will of IAUE.
It is a command. All mankind is
under the authority of IAUE, now invested in the person of the Master Yahushua
Messiah. A king has the right to command
his people, and to judge them for their rebellion; and we cannot be his
disciple without repentance.
There are so many ways to study this matter of
repentance. In mainline church circles
it is explained as “to turn around,” to cease going in the direction you have
been going, and go the opposite direction.
This is an over-simplified definition of repentance as it fails to
identify from what one is to turn, unto what one is to turn, and why one is to
turn around in the first place. The general explanation provided us is to turn from
our sins, to turn to Elohim, and the typical reason is to be
saved. Of course, “being saved” is
rarely defined or explained. It is left
for each person to assume what that means, including to understand how absolute
necessary “being saved” is.
We saw in last week’s post, several verses of
Scripture that speak of turning to
IAUE. That is the obvious direction unto
which man is to turn; but in what direction was man headed away from IAUE? There are at least three answers to that
question; and to understand repentance in its fullest sense, it is necessary to
understand those wayward directions from which we must turn back to IAUE.
Wayward Direction #1
Isaiah 53:6 All
we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;
and IAUE hath laid on him (Messiah) the iniquity of us all.
The Scriptures tell us that Messiah came to
seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). Have you ever gone on a
drive to an unfamiliar destination?
Maybe you printed out a map, or just studied a map to see the way to get
there, then off you went; and part of the way there you got this brilliant idea
to take a short cut; or maybe you just thought you could improve on the designated
path to get there and you “turned to your own way.” What happened? Usually, in life, the result is, you got
lost. I think it is just these experiences that created the phrase, “You
can’t get there from here.” The
Scripture says that “we have turned every one to
his own way.”
Judges 21:25 In
those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right
in his own eyes.
Prov 14:12 There
is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of
death.
Proper direction for man’s life does not
originate with man. We are a creature,
and we have a Creator. Just like an
engineer, today, who designs an automobile, for example, the creator of that
car has a manual for its proper use and operation. If the car chooses for itself what it should
do and where it should go, it will go off-script and destroy itself. Man is no different. There is a manual designed by our Creator for
our proper use and operation.
In Isaiah 53.6 (above) turning to our own way
is called “iniquity;” so the first wayward
direction from which we must turn is to turn from iniquity…from doing what is
right in our own eyes. Note, it is not what
we are doing; but the right to choose
what we will do that is iniquity. It is
the act of going our own way that is wrong and which must be reversed.
Wayward Direction #2
Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Yahushua:
for he shall save his people from their sins.
Luke 24:47 And
that repentance and remission of sins
should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem.
Repenting from iniquity is to turn from our
rebellion against the Creator’s designed path for our life. It is to cease choosing to do what seems
right to us and to turn back to the Creator’s design for our life, yielding
fully to His authority (His right to choose for us) and His choices for us.
While we are of this rebellious mindset
(iniquity), everything we do is incapable of pleasing IAUE. These deeds are called “sins.” Absolutely
everything we do while in the path of iniquity, no matter how “good” it may be
measured to be by society, is evil in the eyes of IAUE, because they originated
with us and not with Him.
Romans 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against
Elohim: for it is not subject to the law of Elohim, neither indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please Elohim.
We are to repent, to turn from the deeds borne
out of our own ideas; and not just what appears to be evil; but also everything
that even appears to be good or borne of good intentions. Iniquity cannot bear good fruit. Once the path to turn to our own way is made,
every fruit of that path is evil.
Wayward Direction #3
Hebrews 6:1 Therefore
leaving the principles of the doctrine of Messiah, let us go on unto
perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works,
and of faith toward Elohim,
Man’s choice of iniquity (turning to his own
way) was made for him by Adam. Every
person born of the seed of man was shaped in iniquity and conceived in sin (Psalm
51:5). Man is born alienated from the
life and light of IAUE; consequently, man’s only choice was to do what seemed
right in his own thinking. Of course, every choice was sin; and sin, which it
is finished, brings forth death (James 1:15).
[This is why the wide gate and the broad path lead unto
destruction. It is the path of
iniquity. It is not a life that has been
returned to the Creator’s design and authority.]
Though shaped in iniquity and conceived in
sin, man still has an instinctive “upward yearning” for his Creator; however
being born alienated from IAUE and being a subject of the kingdom of darkness,
man thinks that there is something he can do to restore the
relationship with IAUE. Virtually every
religion on the face of the earth is nothing more than an effort by man to “reach
IAUE” They all devise methods or
practices by which one may make an appeal to Him of right standing before Him. This is what the Scriptures refer to as “dead works.”
More often than not, it is a system of “good
works” (by society’s standards). If one does more good than bad, the scales tip
to IAUE and man is saved. Some religions
require ascetic practices of self-denial and abasement. What is a good work that comes from walking
in iniquity? Sin. Is that ever going to be an acceptable appeal
before IAUE? Never.
Gal 2:416 Knowing that a man is not
justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Yahushua Messiah, even
we have believed in Yahushua Messiah that we might be justified by the faith of
Messiah, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no
flesh be justified.
Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we
have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Man instinctively appeals to IAUE with the
fruit of his own hands; because he believes there is good within him that can
be demonstrated to IAUE. It is another
thought that seems right to a man; but the end there of are the ways of death.
Remember Cain and Abel? Cain offered a sacrifice that was grown by
his own hands and efforts. Abel offered
a life of an animal as a sacrifice representative of his own life. IAUE was displeased with Cain’s sacrifice
because it demonstrated that Cain did not understand the true nature of his condition
before Him. He offered a “dead work.”
Repentance from this third wayward direction,
therefore, is to turn from appealing for right standing before IAUE (justification)
on any other ground than upon that which Yahushua Messiah has done for
man. Man can take absolutely no credit whatsoever
for the mechanism by which he is restored into the Creator’s will for his life.
Right standing is provided by IAUE through Yahushua His son. If man can do
anything for it, man earns it; but it is evident that nothing man can do can
make the slightest appeal to IAUE for right standing with Him.
Even knowing this, however, does not stop man
from offering up dead works. Even believers, today, try to outweigh evil with
good; or they simply rely on the passing of time so their “sin” is no longer a
present thought or issue (in their mind).
Some pray special prayers repeatedly to appeal to IAUE’s favor, or they
will fast for periods of time. The “life”
of dead works, that which powers the persistent appeals of dead works for
acceptance before IAUE, is fueled by iniquity.
Once we repent of our choice to go our own way; we can never offer a
device of our own choosing to try to appeal to IAUE’s “good side,” because we
know that anything that originates with us is already unacceptable.
Repentance from iniquity, repentance from
sins, repentance from dead works: We are
bought with a price. We are no longer
our own. We belong to another. Life is not about “me.” Life is about the King.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
No comments:
Post a Comment